30 - Air Walking

With fifty more people, we had the means to split up the work, and give everyone days off. And without the risk of overworking anyone, not to mention the direct aid of the Builder, we had rudimentary barracks up a couple weeks later. Our furnishings were leaf-bundle and bark bedding, and we were all crammed in three buildings, but we had shelter beyond the temple. The ladies and a couple of the men worked warmer clothing as the air gradually chilled, which solved another of our basic necessities.

That gave us room to improve quality of life. Jack was already working on bigger, multi-roomed structure he called a "side project". No one ever saw him working on it, but somehow it grew day by day. The first floor was already done, and the walls of the second floor were already a fourth of the floor high. It had become our makeshift watchtower for the time being.

As for me, I courted Katie. She loved the tales of my adventures, and occasionally told me about adventures she had lived, or read. Some of the others gave us looks when they noticed we held hands, but I didn't mind. I've been through more awkward situations.

Today, though, I had to figure out something else to do with my day off. It was Saturday, or that's what we decided to call it. It was my day off.

I normally would have spent the day with Katie, but she had told me she was having a girls day, so I wouldn't see her all day. I knew better than to argue, so I was left with nothing to do.

Not knowing what else to do, I tried to help Thomas with bricks - he was working on a simple hut, which was built the same as our original. I didn't work long before he shooed me away.

Not knowing what else to do, I looked to the top of the Temple and had an idea.

*I can step on barriers we create, right?*

*I was under the impression you knew it was possible. We used that technique in the Boss's camp.*

*That's what I thought.*

Withlut further explanation, I wandered around the back of the temple. With a thought, and a pull at my mana, I created a set of glowing blue stairs, zig-zagging up to the roof. My mana flowed out as I walked up them. About two stories up - a third of the building's height - I realized that I wasn't going to make it. I quickly turned and bounded back down. Once I was only a few feet from the ground, I leapt down and cut off my mana supply.

The stairs burst, disappearing once their power was cut. I gasped for breath, looking up to my goal.

"That took a lot of mana. Should I just wait a few more months?"

The Ancient spoke up. *The mana in the barriers you created were unsealed, and thus remained tied to your own reserve.*

"Thank you for the observation. Sealing the mana makes it permanent, right? Well, I didn't want to do that."

*Essentially, yes. If you did not want it permanent, then why did you shape the whole set before using it?*

"Comfort factor. But now that you say that..." I trailed off.

Temporarily abandoning my attempt to climb the temple, I chose a straight line of ground. I cleared the ground of anything that would hurt to land on, and started at one end.

Clearing the ground had given my mana a chance to recover. I put my foot up half a step, and created a barrier under it.

I put my full weight on the blue light, which it supported in midair. I took another step, placing another barrier in the air before I put my foot down. Then another step, this time making a barrier under my sole at the moment of putting my foot down. I released the first barrier.

It worked. I was walking in the air. I walked along the path I had carved, back and forth, to become familiar with the feeling of placing barriers under my feet. Some steps were higher, and others lower. I practiced for about an hour.

"Whoa! You're flying!"

The boy's voice startled me, and the barriers under my feet shattered. I fell a foot and a half to the ground, where I crashed on my butt.

Standing up, I turned to find Cameron had come around back with a clay cup - one of the men had some skill with pottery and had molded some simple items like cups. He watched with wide eyes.

I brushed the dirt off my butt, and took the cup - full of water - from him.

"You were really flying, weren't you?" he asked.

"Well, no, not really," I said awkwardly, "I'm just walking on barriers that I've created in the air. It's no different from walking on the ground, except I'm making the ground."

His eyes gleamed with excitement. "Could you teach me how to do that?"

I gestured to the Ancient, strapped to my hip. "I can only do this because of the Ancient. The Twins give you a different ability."

"Will they learn other abilities the more I talk to them?" he asked.

I took a sip of water. "Not that I know of. I'm just using my ability creatively."

"So cool! What do you think I can do?"

"You told me the Twins let you make a clone of yourself, right?"

"Yeah, except sometimes its a girl that looks nothing like me. She can be awesome, but sometimes she's really weird."

"Can you change her looks? Her age?"

"I haven't tried that. I'll ask Jelaine if she can change how she looks later."

"She has a name?"

"Yeah. She's Gerand's brother. They're the twins that became my sword. Didn't you learn your sword's name?"

"He never offered it." I said, as I asked the Ancient about it mentally. He declined answering.

I quickly finished my water and gave my cup back to the boy. "I'm going to get back to practicing. Was there anything else?"

"Thomas just said to make sure you knew to come back at noon for lunch."

I glanced at the sky. I had some time. "I'll make sure I do."

With that, Cameron ran back around the Temple.

I went back to practicing, picking up speed, and daring to step higher. A few laps later, I locked my eyes on the temple's roof.

Using my newfound air-walking technique, I ran in a spiral, finally reaching the roof's level. As I reached the edge of the roof, my barriers broke. I barely caught the ledge, and hung for a moment to catch my breath.

Then I pulled myself up and flopped on the roof. I felt drained, and little wonder why. My mana was dry.

I laid there for several minutes, my eyes shut against the daylight. Eventually, I rolled to my feet. The roof was not quite as steep as a 45° angle, so I was cautious, especially since it was weathered stone. I made my way to the front of the building, and sat there, overlooking our town. Thomas directed a few men in the construction of a brick shack. Others were bringing back materials or dead monsters. Nothing too big, the monsters were probably caught by Silence's traps. Someone was already getting lunch started.

*Perhaps I can understand why you wished to come up here when we first bonded.*

"It is an impressive sight," I replied, "But I've always just enjoyed high places. I tend to think more clearly the higher I am."

The Ancient didn't reply, instead letting us enjoy the view in silence.

Once lunch was ready, I descended, taking bounding steps down to the ground. The camp seemed to stop to watch me land.

Thomas stared at me dumbfounded. "Of all the things you could do on a day off, I never thought you'd learn how to fly."